what happens on D Day?

[frogalou]

Hi

I am 28 weeks pregnant with my first baby.

So far, I have not been thinking about the birth so much (more worried about having a baby)... till I saw a colleague of mine yesterday who has a 3 months baby. I realised I don't really know what to expect and what I will have to do.

Can someone out there enlighten me please?

• I will be on maternity leave (hopefully) and what if I am alone at home (boyfriend at work) when I start having contractions? When shall I ask him to come home
  

• At what point do I need to go to hospital?
  

• My boyfriend does not drive, is it ok to take a taxi to hospital (what if my waters break in the taxi?!). I would really rather not call an ambulance
  

• What happened when you arrive in hospital (I have watched One Born Every Minute but....)?
  

I feel a bit silly asking all that and I know there are a million scenarios, but I actually don't really know what to expect, so a few scenarios may enlighten me a bit.

Thanks!

[ArtyJennie]

I can give u my experience as answers to hese questions: (there are many different senarios though!)

I went into labour with mild contractions and didn't realise I was in labour - it was morning- dh was at work. He came home that evening and I started to realise it was probably labour as the contractions (which felt like period pains) where getting more regular and uncomfortable. The mw said to come in when they were 5mins apart or if my waters broke. At 3am the contractions were every 7mins and my waters broke- we called the labour ward and they said to come in.

When I got to the labour ward they examined me to see how many cms (if any) I had dialated. I was 4cm. Generally if you are less than 3cms they may send you back home.

[ArtyJennie]

Ps. I reckon you can get a taxi. Maybe bring a towel to sit on'! Though the taxi person would be pretty unlucky if your waters went at that very point! Lol.

Are you going to antenatal classes- I went to the Nct ones and we went through how it all happens which put my mind at ease (a bit)

[WillowTheWitch]

Hi frog as you have answered my thread I just had to post here

This is my experience when having DD:
Woke during the night (about 4am) by contractions. Tried to get back to sleep but couldn't.
So got up out of bed and waters broke. Hospital said I had to go in as waters had broke.
Got to hospital and was taken for an internal and found i was 4cm. Taken to labour suite for some pain relief. Contracted 1cm per hour and had a normal healthy delivery.

[frogalou]

Thanks ArtyJennie! I go to antenatal classes (not NCT), but we talk more about the actual labour, not so much the logistics around it. How old is your baby?

[frogalou]

WillowTheWitch you make it sound easy! Mind you it is still 6 hours going through it. Ooof. must not panic

[WillowTheWitch]

Thats wrong it was 1cm every 2 hours . I knew something wasn't right when I wrote that . It was still fairly uneventful though - I know I won't be so lucky second time around

[ArtyJennie]

Hey frog- my baby is 4 years old now! Lol. Im expecting dd2 in 5 weeks. And tbh I'm still worried about what I'll do if it happens to quickly and dh can't get home quickly - for eg if he gets stuck in London during the Olympics!

I dialated about 1cm per hr once I was past 4cm. FYI.

[emsyj]

• I will be on maternity leave (hopefully) and what if I am alone at home (boyfriend at work) when I start having contractions? When shall I ask him to come home
  

The likelihood is that it will be evening or night time when you go into labour - statistically. But if it's daytime, just get him to come home straight away to support you! My DH was driving home when my waters broke - I rang him to let him know, but he was on his way anyway.

• At what point do I need to go to hospital?
  

They usually tell you to go when you're having regular contractions (I think 5 mins apart??? - check with your midwife). I went when I felt that I couldn't cope at home any more. If you feel ready to go to hospital, you ring up the labour ward and tell them you're coming. They may try and fob you off. If you feel you need to be in hospital, don't let them fob you off. Go anyway.

• My boyfriend does not drive, is it ok to take a taxi to hospital (what if my waters break in the taxi?!). I would really rather not call an ambulance
  

No idea. Call a local taxi firm? Or ask a neighbour, friend or family member to drive you? I couldn't sit down when I was on my way to hospital and I went on all fours in the back of DH's car - I don't think a taxi driver would have tolerated that...!

• What happened when you arrive in hospital (I have watched One Born Every Minute but....)?
  

They didn't really believe I was in labour (I'd been in earlier to be examined after my waters broke and I went back quite soon after as I had a fast labour) so they left me in a corridor for about 15 minutes until a triage room came free. Then they took me in there and checked baby and examined me to see how far along I was (9cm thank goodness).

You can usually go for a tour around the hospital if you want to - ours was 'just turn up' on a particular day at a particular time (evening) and a midwife showed us all the rooms and told us where to go when we came in etc.